Balance is the ability of a person to remain steady in a standing or sitting position without a significant reliance on postural strategies or external support. Balance may be diminished by injury, aging, disease, disuse, or a combination thereof. When balance becomes limited, medical professionals or rehabilitation professionals such as physical and occupational therapists provide interventions to restore or otherwise improve the balance of a target patient.
Many devices and methodologies exist for use in balance exercise and rehabilitation. Known devices operate by either (1) having a patient stand on an unstable surface, e.g., foam, discs, wobble boards, vibration platforms, or (2) attempt to minimize body movements during the performance of balance exercises. What is missing is a device that challenges upper-extremity target tasks that use the arms and hands to reach, grasp, place, retrieve, deliver, and/or touch items at a particular location. For example, reaching to grasp and retrieve a cup to deliver and place it on a table is an upper-extremity target task. In a rehabilitation setting, reaching to grasp and retrieve a cone, delivering and placing it on a target, such as a platform, is an example of an upper-extremity target task. A device that would incorporate upper-extremity target tasks would help simulate functional challenges to balance. Functional activities are those common to daily life, such as, preparing meals, showering, dressing, and house cleaning. Functional balance is the ability to maintain balance during activities of daily living. Functional movements result in body weight shifts, postural instability, and balance challenges. Poor responses to the balance challenges of functional movements can lead to falls. Systems, apparatuses and methods are needed that progressively challenge a person's balance through the incorporation of upper-extremity target tasks. Systems, devices and methods are also needed that can be used to rehabilitate balance for patients sitting, kneeling and standing through the incorporation of upper-extremity target tasks.